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This particular guide to Pillars of Eternity 2 focuses on the Monk, which is a class that relies on taking damage and converting that damage into “wounds,” which then fuel special soul-based abilities. They also use a secondary resource called “Mortification,” which is fully refilled between encounters but is usually not refillable during combat except by using Empower, and is spent to activate some of their other powerful abilities.

An Overview Of The Monk Class

The Monk is a very flexible and versatile class that can be built into many varieties of melee combatants, running the spectrum of tanks, damage dealers, and mixes of both. Monks can make good use of any weapons, armor, and shields with the right build, and they make one of the best frontline fighter classes in the game (along with the fighter itself).

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Whenever a Monk takes damage they gain wounds, which are one of two resources they make use of to fuel their abilities. Different subclasses gain wounds at different rates, and certain subclasses can gain wounds through methods other than taking damage.

Monks begin each combat encounter with a full pool of Mortification (based on the maximum amount they can have at their current level). This serves as a second resource that is used for fueling certain abilities and is very difficult to refill during combat, though Empower can refill it.

Best Races For The Monk Class

When it comes to picking a race for a Monk character, there are several options, but the Nature Godlike has a particularly powerful effect when paired with this class. The Nature Godlike has the ability “Wellspring of Life,” a powerful ability that increases their power level when they are under the effect of any might, dexterity, or constitution inspiration.

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Due to the Monk’s ready and easy access to dexterity inspiration buffs, this effect will nearly always be active. Since the Monk’s fists gain bonuses to accuracy, penetration, and damage, that scale directly with their Power Level, this will greatly enhance their damage and overall effectiveness if going for an unarmed build.

Stat Priorities For The Monk Class

When it comes to min-maxing the Monk, the most important stats are Perception, Dexterity, and Might. Perception first, since being able to actually hit the enemy is very important, and it also improves the chances of landing a critical hit. After that Dexterity is important for raising their action speed and stride, allowing them to hit quickly and follow the enemy after knocking them back (a tremendously frequent occurrence). Might is essential for raising damage and fortitude defense, allowing the Monk to dish out damage and resist the effects of poison and disease.

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Of the remaining stats, Constitution shouldn’t be neglected since it’s the stat that increases their health, allowing the monk to take more hits. This is particularly important since the monk gains wounds by taking damage. As a bonus, it also increases fortitude defense, which aids in resisting poison and disease as mentioned above. Intelligence also shouldn’t be neglected since it helps with resisting mental effects and increases the AOE of abilities, and the Duration of abilities too. That only leaves Resolve, which Monks can make some use of, but it is far from essential for the Monk playstyle and can be used as a dump stat to free up points for other areas with minimal loss, though doing this does run the risk of taking serious damage from repeat critical hits, so it might be safer to leave it at 10.

Subclasses For The Monk

When it comes to Subclasses, Monks have access to some excellent options. The default Monk is very solid, but one particularly standout alternative is the Nalpazca Monk. As long as the player is willing to stock up on drugs for their character to use constantly throughout their journey, this subclass is almost a complete upgrade compared to the default monk. The cost is that, despite drugs lasting longer, the crash afterward locks the Monk out of healing, though players making good use of this subclass will likely not have to worry about this too much. The choice between the default Monk and the Nalpazca monk is almost entirely down to the player’s willingness to spend the extra time to maintain a stockpile of drugs for the entire game.

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The Helwalker is also noteworthy for being able to put out some tremendous damage, gaining might for every wound they have, but also taking increased damage for each wound they have. This can allow them to put out some really incredible damage, though it also makes them incredibly fragile and likely to die if they take too many hits, especially in the early game. Helwalker ranged builds taking advantage of the Scepter to build up wounds by self-damaging using its passive can also be very effective, though this is best multi-classed rather than run as a pure monk build. Ghost Heart Ranger is a good pick for the other class here.

When building a monk with unarmed combat in mind, players should definitely pick up two-weapon fighting early on. Fighting with two empty hands counts as dual-wielding, allowing this ability to enhance their action speed when fighting unarmed. Swift Strikes is useful to any monk, enhancing their action speed and granting a quick inspiration, which will trigger the aforementioned Nature Godlike ability (Wellspring of Life) if players chose that race.

Weapon and Shield Style is useful later on in the game for using a particularly powerful piece of gear called Tuotilo’s Palm, which is a small shield that is treated as an unarmed weapon and enhances several aspects of the Monk’s kit. It benefits from both Two-Weapon Fighting and Weapon and Shield Style, making both very useful after it is acquired.

Another very powerful skill for Monks is Turning Wheel, which buffs their intelligence based on the number of wounds they have and also adds fire damage to their melee attacks that is proportional to the base damage of the attack. This allows them to reap the benefits of a higher intelligence score without having to heavily invest and also supplies them with a second damage type that helps with enemies resistant to the crushing damage of their fists. A vital skill for most Monk builds.

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On the subject of skills vital to Monk builds, Lesser Wounds will lower the threshold for gaining wounds, allowing them to gain a greater number of wounds from a lesser amount of damage, which any Monk can make good use of. Thunderous Blows is also an excellent choice, offering the Tenacious inspiration in exchange for three wounds, which grants +5 might and +2 penetration while active, both excellent bonuses for a Monk (This will also trigger the aforementioned Nature Godlike Ability “Wellspring of Life”).

Flagellant’s Path and Shared Pain are also very useful, providing the Monk with a fantastic means of inflicting crush damage on multiple targets and inflicting a bleed effect based on their current number of wounds. Heartbeat Drumming gives Monks a chance to strike again instantly after landing a critical hit, allowing them to dish out even further damage even with basic attacks, while Prestige permanently raises power level to make fists deal even more damage.

There are a ton of excellent abilities for the Monk, but the ones described here are some of the best for almost any build, especially builds using unarmed combat (which is usually the best option for Monks in most situations).

Weapons For The Monk

When it comes to weapons, Monks come pre-equipped with arguably the best option for the class. Unarmed combat is the Monk’s wheelhouse, and they can dish out tremendous damage with just their bare hands. That said, it’s worth carrying spears, hatchets, or some other option for inflicting non-crushing damage just in case an enemy is resistant to it or immune to it.

In terms of specific weapons, Tuotilo’s Palm is an excellent shield that also counts as an unarmed weapon, and it enhances wound generation, deflection per wound, a bit more accuracy and damage with unarmed attacks, and shield deflection. This makes it a must-have for unarmed combat.

The Long Pain is also useful, allowing Monks to turn their unarmed strikes into ranged attacks, though many of their abilities require them to be melee attacking, meaning this is only useful some of the time.

Pillars of Eternity 2 is currently available on PC, macOS, Linux, PS4, and Xbox One.

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